


In which Linzin stress about time, and don't have much of it

by EmonyDeborah



Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra, Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Royalty, F/M, Fluff, I guess a little angst if you squint, Linzin - Freeform, Princess Lin, Queen Toph, Secret Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-18
Updated: 2021-03-18
Packaged: 2021-03-27 16:14:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,108
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30125451
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EmonyDeborah/pseuds/EmonyDeborah
Summary: Lin and Tenzin have been living it up for months, darting from private corridors to rarely-used hallways to secret, late night meetings, reveling in the thrill and secrecy of it all.  But it's time for the fun to come to an end.Or maybe, the real fun is just beginning.Linzin Royalty AU
Relationships: Lin Beifong/Tenzin
Comments: 14
Kudos: 47





	In which Linzin stress about time, and don't have much of it

The side door eased open, and even before turning around, Lin smiled. Tenzin placed a finger over his lips and tapped on her door twice. Saikhan grunted in reply. Then Tenzin turned to Lin with a wide smile.

Despite her anxiety, she couldn’t help smiling back. Before anything else, he strode across the room, pulled her into his arms, and kissed her. Lin melted against him, desperate to stay in the moment, unwilling to move on.

But after a moment, Tenzin broke the kiss and held her tighter, dropping kisses into her hair. “I missed you,” he said, and Lin rolled her eyes, hugging him just as tightly.

“We had three meals together today. And a meeting.” Tenzin chuckled. He nuzzled her neck until she tilted her head to give him better access, half-heartedly swatting his arm as she did.

“The princess had three meals and a meeting with the son of her mother’s advisor.  _ I  _ missed  _ you.”  _ He kissed her neck, and his hands began to wander. “My wife.”

He was so solid and enticing, with his strong arms around her and his lips on her neck, that Lin almost forgot why she had been nervous.

It came back to her with a wave of nausea.

“Tenzin-” Her breath hitched and Tenzin grinned against her skin. “Do you think we should tell them?”

Tenzin’s hands stilled. He leaned back, frowning. “Tell whom, what?” Lin grimaced, and he pursed his lips defensively. “You’ll have to be a little clearer than-”

“Our parents, Tenzin,” Lin interrupted. “About us, about-” Her hand went to the necklace resting between her collarbones, hidden by her normal clothes but left exposed by her nightgown. “-about this.”

Tenzin ran his hand over his head, which was normally funny to watch, since he had no hair to run his fingers through. But Lin felt no amusement as he rubbed his arrow, just frustration and nerves rolled together in the pit of her stomach.

“Why are you bringing this up now?” he asked eventually. He dropped his hand from her waist and stepped away, watching her warily as she shot him an annoyed look.

“Because-” It rose to the tip of her tongue, but at the last second she couldn’t force it out. She almost wrapped her arms around her waist, but her stomach clenched at the thought and she placed her hands on her hips instead. “Because they deserve to know.”

Tenzin dropped onto her bed, face in his hands. Gone was the warmth of only a few minutes ago; it had been replaced with the tension that always accompanied this argument. Only this time, Lin couldn’t back down on the promise of “soon,” or “when the time is right.”

The time was  _ wrong,  _ but they had none left.

“Lin, the scandal it would cause-”

“Wouldn’t be an issue if we had just told them in the first place,” Lin argued. “If we had come straight home from the church and just-”

“You  _ know  _ why we couldn’t do that,” Tenzin said, his voice raising in pitch. Lin glanced at the door, and Tenzin lowered his voice. “We have to wait until you’re twenty-five, then-”

“Then I can choose my own husband, we make a big announcement, no Sato, no child-bride, everyone’s happy,” Lin snapped, and stalked towards the bed to loom over him. “Has it occurred to you that  _ maybe  _ your brilliant plan doesn’t work for me anymore? It’s great for  _ you,  _ you can get out whenever you want, but I’m stuck!” Tenzin opened his mouth, somewhere between fury and confusion, but Lin didn’t let him speak.

“This could just be a trial run for you, there’s no backlash on  _ you  _ if this goes badly, but I’m-” Lin stopped, and suddenly her eyes were burning. “I’m-” Her voice cracked, and Tenzin frowned in concern.

“Lin, what-?” He reached for her, but she recoiled from his touch and fled to the window, wiping her eyes. 

_ Spirits,  _ it was never supposed to be like this. They had a plan, a plan that until a few days ago she had been more than happy with. It was exciting, sneaking around for stolen moments, the silent meals burning with meaningful looks, his secret nighttime visits. Three years didn’t seem long to wait, especially when they were having so much fun. Even if Saikhan gave her sidelong looks when she darted down a corridor for a few seconds of privacy, or if Kya’s haughty judgment crawled over them like centipedes at dinner, they were too wrapped up in each other to care.

But now- the fun had to end. And if Tenzin wasn’t willing to give up their thrilling little secret and support her through the hard days ahead, he would leave her in complete disgrace.

Slow, deliberate steps pulled her from her dark thoughts, and she knew he was there before he slowly wrapped his arms around her. He rested his chin on her head and she clutched his arm, squeezing her eyes shut against the tears.

He dropped a whisper of a kiss onto the shell of her ear, and she sucked in her breath, mounting one last defense before she crumbled.

Tears spilled down her cheeks and she turned into his chest, into his arms and the comfort they offered. Her grip on his shirt was all that kept her standing as he rubbed soothing circles into her back.

“What’s going on, Lin?” he asked softly. She curled her fingers tighter in his shirt, and his heart thudded against her cheek.

Hers. He always said it was hers, until it stopped beating. Lin took a deep breath.

“I’m pregnant.”

He stiffened. His hands stilled on her back and Lin curled in on herself, counting the heartbeats until he spoke.

“What?” he breathed. Lin groaned and pressed her forehead to his sternum.

“Don’t make me say it again,” she begged. His arms tightened around her before he abruptly released her to grab her shoulders.

“You’re-?” His wide eyes darted over her. “Are you really?”

Lin squared her shoulders and nodded, bracing herself.

She was not prepared for the smile that spread across his face. Or for him to engulf her in a huge hug, hitch her legs up around his waist, and crash his lips to hers.

“What-? Tenzin-” He spun her around, pressing his smile and the excited yell she knew he was dying to let out into her shoulder. She squirmed, squeezing her eyes shut against her bedroom whirling around her.

“Put me- down-” He obeyed immediately, but his ecstatic grin didn’t fade until she leaned over, hands on her knees, and let out a slow breath.

“Lin? Are you all right? I didn’t hurt you, did I?” Lin suppressed a hiss of impatience at his worried tone, already knowing how overbearing he was bound to be for the next several months.

“Dizzy.”

“Oh.” Lin shot him a glare, and he gave her a weak smile. “Sorry. Would you like to-? Do you need-? Uh-” Lin rolled her eyes, but the side of her mouth twitched just slightly. “Here-” Without warning, Tenzin swooped her into her arms, ignored her smack to his chest, and walked her all six feet back to her bed. He laid her onto her covers as if she were made of porcelain. She sat up immediately, and he knelt before her, either disregarding her annoyance or oblivious to it.

“Lin, this is- are you- how do you know?” Lin crossed her arms, but she couldn’t deny his pleading, baby sky bison eyes.

“I’ve suspected for a while, but Kya confirmed it this afternoon,” she said. She cautiously laid her hands over her stomach, and heat rose in her cheeks when Tenzin followed her motion with awe. “She says I’m three months along.”

“Three-  _ three months?”  _ Tenzin spluttered, looking horrified. “But that only gives us six more!” He sprang to his feet and darted to her desk, grabbing the first paper and quill he saw. “We have to prepare a nursery! And pick a name! And find a midwife!”

“And tell our parents- and my kingdom- we’re married,” Lin said dryly. Tenzin froze in scratching something onto the paper. Lin watched the wheels turn in his head until he turned to her with a look of muted terror.

“Do you think if we name the baby ‘Toph’, your mother will let me live?” Lin almost snorted.

“And if it’s a boy?” she asked, and her heart fluttered at the thought. She hadn’t thought this far ahead, not yet; she had been too wrapped up in the months of either mild scandal or abject humiliation stretched out in front of her. Everything had hinged on telling Tenzin, but now that she had told him and gotten his reaction- happiness followed by panic, which she really should have expected- she was free to look further ahead.

Past telling her mother, and finding some way to tell the kingdom, and breaking off her pseudo-betrothal, and the next six months of discomfort… she and Tenzin were going to have a baby.

She paled. Tenzin, lost in thought, didn’t notice. “I think ‘Toph’ would still work. Being named after your mother will probably scare off more bullies than it would attract. But-”

“Tenzin.” He blinked, took in her tense expression and clenched hands, and darted to her side.

“What is it?” He took her hands to stop them from shaking.

“How are we going to be parents?” Her breathing spiked and her knuckles whitened around Tenzin’s hands. “We- I don’t know what to do with babies- I don’t think I’ve ever  _ held  _ a baby, how am I supposed to-”

“You’ll be brilliant, Lin,” Tenzin said firmly. “And I’ll be there with you.”

“You don’t know any more than I do!” Lin snapped. “Neither of us knows-”

“Lin.” Tenzin squeezed her hands. “We’ll work it out. We have each other, and Kya and Bumi, and-” He swallowed, but straightened his shoulders. “When we tell them tomorrow, we’ll have our parents, too.” Lin’s eyes flicked to his.

“Tomorrow, huh?” Tenzin nodded firmly, determination etched on his face.

“Tomorrow morning, at breakfast. First thing.” Lin stared into his eyes, searching for any hint of hesitation. But there was none; only genuine, earnest resolve.

Slowly, she leaned her forehead onto his, letting out a long breath as the muscles in her back unwound. She flipped her hands in his and laced their fingers together.

“Thank you,” she said quietly.

“I love you,” he said. “And I’m here with you. Which,” he continued, leaning away slightly, “is what I’m going to tell our parents tomorrow, among other impressive declarations.” He gave her a kiss that stole her breath, and she wrapped her arms around his neck to keep him from breaking it. He grinned against her lips.

“Tonight, though,” he murmured, hooking an arm around her waist, “we celebrate.”

Lin smiled.

* * *

“Are you as nervous as I am?”

Lin scoffed. “I’m never as nervous as you are.” But she squeezed his hand anyway.

They were both rooted in place before the door to the dining room, where their entire families were almost certainly waiting. Lin felt that her chest had shrunk so her pounding heart was straining to burst out, and beside her, Tenzin’s frame was taut as he stared at the door.

Lin squared her shoulders. “All right,” she said firmly. Tenzin glanced at her and mirrored her determined posture.

“All right.”

Tenzin kissed her hand, then opened the door for her. Saikhan stood by, visibly doing his best not to appear too annoyed.

Lin froze in the doorway.

“Lin, is that you?” Lin didn’t answer. A few seats down from her mother, Hiroshi Sato rose to his feet.

“Princess,” he said, his smile too wide. Catching sight of Tenzin, he gave a small bow to them both. “Master Tenzin.”

“Mr. Sato,” Tenzin said stiffly, reaching for Lin’s waist. But at his touch she jumped away as though burned, and strode into the room without looking back.

She allowed Sato to kiss her hand, but quickly left his side to speak to her mother. “I wasn’t aware Mr. Sato would be joining us this morning,” she said through gritted teeth. Tenzin silently took his seat beside Kya, and Lin heard the thump of her kicking him under the table to keep him from glaring.

“Didn’t I mention-?”

“No, Mother,” Lin interrupted, and Toph blinked. She shrugged.

“Well, now you know. He’s here to discuss your engagement.” Su tugged on Lin’s sleeve, and she slowly lowered herself into her seat beside Toph. 

Lin didn’t look at Hiroshi and his slimy smile as she asked, “What about it?” On Kya’s other side, Bumi muttered something into his orange juice, and Kya kicked him, too.

Aang and Katara were giving Lin sympathetic looks, but they didn’t intervene. “Look, Lin-” Toph drummed her fingers on the table in discomfort, and dread twisted Lin’s stomach to knots. “People have been talking, and you know I’m not getting any younger-”

“You’re 53,” Lin protested, but Toph waved her off.

“I know, I know, and I’m not going anywhere, but Lin- It took a lot for me to regain the people’s trust after having you two out of wedlock, and if they get nervous you’re going to turn out like me-”

_ “‘If’ _ they get nervous?” Lin asked incredulously. She turned to Kya and Su. “Are they?” Su shrugged, but Kya shifted in her seat.

“Not really,” she said tentatively. “Of course there are always some-”

“‘Some’ is enough,” Sato chimed in. It was his first contribution to the conversation, and not even Kya’s pointiest heels could have quelled the furious look Tenzin sent his way. Toph, of course, didn’t notice, and Aang pretended not to see, but Katara gave Sato a witheringly cool look. “Any whispers we don’t silence now will follow you through your whole reign.”

Lin stiffened when he said “we,” but still didn’t turn to him. “But Mother, you managed to get past-”

“That was  _ me,  _ Lin,” Toph stressed. “And Aang and Katara helped a lot with that. Three war heroes leading the country won’t attract  _ too  _ much hate, but we can’t be sure that will extend to you.”

Lin sat in silence for a moment, acutely aware of everyone’s eyes on her. She wanted to rewind the whole morning, back to the few moments of warmth and comfort after waking up before she had dashed to the bathroom. Even retching into the toilet would have been better; at least Tenzin had been beside her, holding her hair and rubbing her back. 

In this, even surrounded by her family, she was alone.

“Mother,” she said slowly, trying not to sound as stunned as she felt, “I still say I have the right to choose my own husband-”

“Oh, not this again, Lin-”

“Yes,  _ “this again”  _ Mother, it should be my choice!”

“You’re a-”

“-even if I am a princess!” Lin leaped to her feet, sending her chair skidding back as she leaned over the table and nearly shouted in Toph’s face. “I don’t care that you’re the queen! You can’t make me do this!”

Toph blinked; this wasn’t Lin’s first objection, but it was certainly the most passionate. Lin’s years of etiquette lessons commanded her to stand down, to ask to speak to her mother privately, not in front of the very man they were discussing, but her stomach rolled and pain throbbed between her eyes and she couldn’t make herself think of anything else.

“It’s my life, Mother! You can’t just pick someone for me to spend it with!”

“Lin, our people-”

“Our people will come to respect me whether I marry or not, Mother, because I plan to make their lives better however I can. And I will do it with the man I choose.” Toph opened her mouth but Lin didn’t wait for her to speak; she bolted from the table, leaving a stunned Sato and flummoxed Toph in her wake.

Lin’s heart pounded in her ears, nearly drowning out Tenzin’s footsteps sprinting after her. 

“Lin, wait-”

“I can’t believe her.” Lin curled her hands into fists, eyes burning. “To just spring this on me-” 

“I know.”

“Can she not hear how hypocritical she’s being? The unmarried mother of two daughters? And she thinks she can-”

Tenzin let her rant for a few minutes, glancing at Saikhan to make sure no one was approaching. Saikhan shook his head and ducked around a corner to give them privacy.

“-completely absurd, I should be allowed to make that choice, I  _ have  _ made that choice, this whole thing is- what?” Lin blinked; Tenzin was staring at her intently, a determined look on his face.

“Come on,” he said, and without offering an explanation, took her hand and dragged her back to the dining room.

“What- Tenzin- I don’t want to see her, she’s just going to-” Tenzin threw the doors open with a bang, and Lin jumped.

“Your Majesty,” he boomed. At the end of the table, Toph looked up from consoling Hiroshi Sato and raised her eyebrows. Lin’s heart seized.

“Tenzin, what are you-?”

“I love your daughter,” Tenzin announced, and wrapped his arm around her shoulder. Aang’s mouth dropped open, and Kya and Bumi exchanged stunned glances. “And she loves me.” Heat flooded Lin’s face as Katara raised her eyebrows at Tenzin’s brazen confidence. “Six months ago, we got married, and last night Lin told me we’re expecting a baby.”

Su’s silverware clattered to the floor. No one reacted. 

“And what’s more, Mr. Sato-” Tenzin’s voice turned venomous. “-you will  _ never  _ lay a single, slimy finger on  _ my wife.”  _ Kya shut her gaping mouth with a click. She looked almost impressed. “She didn’t choose you, Sato, she chose  _ me.”  _ Warmth flooded Lin’s chest at the fierce pride in his voice, and she straightened under Sato’s cold, haughty glare.

Toph listened with a shrewd look on her face and said nothing. Aang’s mouth opened and closed several times before he could speak. “But, Tenzin-” Katara and Bumi shot him warning looks from either side, and he shrank in bewilderment. “What about Pema? She’ll be devastated-”

“She’s nine, Dad,” Tenzin said dryly. “I’m sure she’ll get over it in the ten years it would have taken us to get married.” 

Aang grimaced. “Fine, but her mother-”

“Hou-Ting will also get over it,” Lin said sharply. “Besides, no one is going to care in six months.” She rested her hand on her stomach, and the gesture sucked the air out of the room. Katara bit her lip against a smile, and Lin drew strength from it. Kya didn’t bother hiding; she beamed, and Su was fast behind her.

“So I’m gonna be an aunt?” Su asked, ignoring the tension between everyone else in the room. Tenzin puffed up with pride and opened his mouth to answer.

“Not if you’re smart.” Lin started and looked to Sato, whose eyes had become chips of ice. “If you want what’s best for this kingdom, the princess-” He nearly hissed the word, and Lin had to resist a shiver. “-will disappear for the next six months, and come back ready to marry me.” 

“Excuse me?” Sato leveled Lin with a cold glare.

“Unless you want me to run to the closest paper and tell them all about how Princess Lin- my  _ betrothed-  _ betrayed me with Master Aang’s son, and how she and the queen tried to force me into marrying her early and claiming the bastard.”

Lin stiffened, fury coursing through her. Tenzin’s arm around her shoulder was all that kept her from leaping over the table and tackling Sato to the ground.

“Now, see here-” Bumi said furiously at the same moment Aang raised his hands and said, “Let’s not be hasty-” but Toph’s commanding voice rang over both of them.

“You will do no such thing, Mr. Sato,” she said in a deceptively calm tone, “if you wish to survive the night with your business intact.”

Sato froze, eyes bulging. Katara’s nostrils flared and she shared a surreptitious look with Aang. Su’s jaw dropped. Toph’s cool expression didn’t waver, even as Sato began to stammer.

“You- now, see here- you can’t just- I’ll tell the papers-”

“What? That Queen Toph, hero of the war against the Phoenix King, threatened to kill you? That Master Aang and Master Katara, known throughout the world for their kindness and generosity, stood by and watched me do it?” Toph pressed her hands to the table and leaned forward, and more than ten feet away, Sato paled.

“Are you willing to stake your business on that, Mr. Sato?” Katara said imperiously.

“Or your life?” Bumi added with a predatory grin. Sato took a step back.

“No one is going to believe you were married,” he said in a barbed tone as he edged towards the door.

Lin raised her eyebrows and stepped out from under Tenzin’s arm. Standing before Sato, flanked by her family, she felt like a queen, and judging from Sato’s expression, she looked the wrathful kind.

“We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it,” she said evenly. Sato glanced around at everyone’s faces and fumbled for the door. Saikhan opened it for him, and Sato stumbled back a few feet.

“You may leave, Mr. Sato,” Toph said. After another furious, terrified look around the room, Sato turned and ran.

Saikhan closed the door.

“He wasn’t gone already, right?” Toph said, slumping back into her chair. “He got the full effect?”

“Oh, definitely,” Katara said, sliding back into her own chair. “You were very intimidating.”

“Good.” Toph released a deep sigh, and Lin and Tenzin exchanged a look. Tenzin took her hand, and they faced their families together. There was a moment of silence. “Spirits, they’re holding hands, aren’t they?”

Lin and Tenzin both flushed, and Kya snickered.

“Well,” she said, “that wasn’t how I thought this would go.”

Katara raised her eyebrows, and Kya’s eyes widened as she realized her mistake. “So you know about this?”

“Uh-” Kya looked at Lin in panic, but Lin shrugged with a helpless look. “I knew they were married-”

“So did I!” Su said cheerfully. “And I never told!” She gave Lin a triumphant look. “Told you I could keep a secret.” Lin rolled her eyes, but smiled.

Toph massaged her temples, and Aang gave Kya and Bumi looks of shocked betrayal. Katara poked Toph.

“Can I tell Zuko?”

“No, wait until he visits. I want to hear when he squeals like a little girl.” Toph let out a long, slow breath before lifting her head. “You’re really married?”

“Yes, Mother.”

“And pregnant?”

“Yes, Mother.” Toph sighed again. Aang sank into his chair.

“Are you healthy?” Lin glanced at Kya, who cleared her throat.

“Uh, I examined her yesterday, Aunt Toph-” She shrank under the force of Aang, Katara, and Toph’s combined scrutinizing looks. “-everything’s fine.”

“Wait a minute,” Su exclaimed, looking very put out. “Kya knew before I did? No fair!”

“Kya  _ knew  _ before I did, Su,” said Lin, trying not to roll her eyes.

“Still-” Lin flexed her fingers, and Tenzin squeezed her hand. As Su ranted about her rights as the future mother’s sister, the anxiety that had been coiled in Lin’s stomach for the last twenty-four hours- or year, really- slowly bled out. She edged closer to Tenzin and tugged his arm around her hips as she wrapped hers around his waist. Toph’s head snapped towards them.

“What are you doing?” she demanded. “Katara-”

“We’re just standing close together, Mother,” Lin said shortly, regretting the movement, comforting as it was. Toph gagged.

“Oh, Spirits- get out of here.”

Lin blinked “What?”

“You don’t wanna be here, go on, go be lovey somewhere else.” She waved them towards the door.

Tenzin didn’t wait to be told twice. He dragged Lin out the door without another word, ignoring Aang’s indignant objections.

They tore down the hall together, breathless with shock and budding happiness.

“Come on-” Tenzin led her out to the garden, and in the privacy of the tall shrubs he swept her up without warning. She half smiled into the kiss, still numb with disbelief.

“Did that really just-?”

Tenzin threw his head back and laughed, and she hadn’t seen him look so free in months. Lin pulled him into another giddy kiss.

“I love you.”

Tenzin pressed kisses onto every bit of her he could reach- her nose, her forehead, her neck- until she squirmed and laughed and demanded to be put down. Tenzin obeyed and set her on her feet, only to kiss her again.

“I love you, too.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!! I love this couple, and this is the first I've written for them. Please leave a comment and let me know what you thought :)


End file.
